Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Director of Music Harrison Russin has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, “I Believe: The Credo in Music, 1300–1500.” Russin passed the oral examination via Zoom on January 22, 2021.
Russin will now be granted a Ph.D. in musicology from Duke University, Durham, NC. He also holds an M.A. in musicology from the same institution.
“While my research had its origins in some possible Eastern Christian connections in medieval Western European music, I eventually settled on the topic of monophonic rhythmic chants of the Credo that proliferated mostly in Italy and France in the late medieval period,” Russin explained.
“Writing and finishing my dissertation while teaching and conducting at St. Vladimir’s has been a challenge—and even more so in the past year because of limited access to libraries and scholarly resources. I am grateful to everyone at St. Vladimir’s for giving me the time I needed to research and write,” Russin added. “I especially thank Fr. Chad Hatfield, Dean Alex Tudorie, and librarians Eleana Silk and Danielle Earl.”
Russin and his family have a long connection with St. Vladimir’s. In addition to teaching on the faculty, Russin is an alumnus, having graduated from the Seminary’s M.Div. program as valedictorian in 2013. His wife, Gabrielle, is an M.A. graduate of St. Vladimir’s (‘14) and currently works as the Seminary registrar and student affairs administrator. Russin’s cousin, the late Protodeacon Keith Russin (+2017), graduated from St. Vladimir’s in 1971.
Saint Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield’s fascinating presentation about North American saints is now available to the public.
Father Chad delivered the presentation, “Orthodox Christian Saints of North America,” for the Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL)’s 33rd Annual Meeting and Program on November 13, 2020. A recording of the presentation, which was given online, was recently posted by OCL. His overview focused on “the foundation they have given us to draw all Orthodox Christians into unity here in North America.”
Watch the presentation via OCL’s YouTube page below.
In the spring of 2020, New York state was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) classes went virtual, and its chapel and liturgical life were effectively suspended. But several months later, in August, SVOTS reopened for the new academic year with in-person classes, full residential living, and liturgical services resuming on campus for students and their families. SVOTS Director of Music Harrison Russin discusses the realities of liturgical music and services in the current climate and lessons learned from the pandemic.
Q: How have services at SVOTS been adjusted because of the pandemic?
HR: For our liturgical services and because of our chapel space, right now we are limited to one singer and one reader. We place the singer near the door, we have windows open, and we turn off the air conditioning. Masks are required. We are currently blessed to do Vespers and Matins on weekdays. On weekends we are blessed to do Vespers Saturday night and liturgy on Sunday. Perhaps the interesting feature of all this is that on Sundays we serve three liturgies simultaneously [two following OCA rubrics and one following rubrics of the Antiochian Archdiocese]. We have one liturgy in the chapel, one liturgy in the chapel basement, and one liturgy in the Metropolitan Philip auditorium.
Q: How have students reacted to all the adjustments?
HR: The majority I've spoken to are thankful that they are here at all, that we can have in-person worship, in-person liturgical services—especially being in New York when six months ago this was the coronavirus epicenter of America. The ones that I talked to have been very thankful about the arrangement. And perhaps a little nervous as we get further into the semester. They will be expected to handle more of the services as the semester continues. Right now I am doing a lot; the second- and third-year students are doing a lot. We will expect more from all the students. There is a liturgical ownership as the semester continues.
Q: Is there anything we can take forward post-pandemic?
HR: I think there is a lot we can take into life after the pandemic. The pandemic hit so suddenly and the closures hit so suddenly we thought we would emerge from it as suddenly. Six months later we realize that it will be gradual. We still don’t have a clear idea what it will mean. We’re teaching and expecting a greater liturgical awareness, of conducting these services. Students will have help from the faculty and the priests of the chapel. More will be expected from the students and that can only be a good thing in terms of long-term liturgical awareness and growth.
I think this has also brought an awareness of simplicity and how simple the services can be done and still be beautiful. Father Sergei Glagolev, who is, in a sense, the architect of English-language liturgical music in America, has said several times that the icon is the example of what any liturgical art should be. The defining feature should be the icon. It is transparency. Not immediate hermeneutical transparency, but a transparency that we know automatically we are viewing something that is bringing us to a greater acknowledgement of reality. The simplicity of our music aids in that understanding. It is easier to get caught up in how flat the singer is because there is only one singer. But I think when we can engage with the truth of our music and the truth of our texts it leads us to a greater understanding of the beauty of our worship.
Music is not a different art form from other liturgical sacred arts we have. Music is part of the cloth from which these are all woven. There is a certain unity of sacred arts which I think any liturgical experience will lead to. Growing up within the OCA [Orthodox Church in America] with the largely four-part Russian music, or growing up in the Greek church or in the Antiochian church, we may have certain expectations. Perhaps one of the gifts of this time is the confounding of these expectations and how a liturgical understanding of the beauty of our liturgy is not dogmatically placed in one style of music. Sometimes we confuse dogma with taste. If anything we can, at least because of the limits of our musical worship right now, realize that personal taste is perhaps secondary to the goal of our music or the end of our music. It doesn’t mean you shouldn't defend your tastes. But a realization that they are tastes, this will lead to a greater understanding and cohesion of liturgical arts.
Q: Can you speak to how music and sacred arts in general are experienced at the Seminary?
HR: It’s very moving and encouraging and edifying to be in such an environment. Not only do we teach sacred arts and not only do we have courses in iconology, but other arts like preaching, the art of rhetoric, we live those day to day in Matins and Vespers. We see it come alive when we celebrate a feast day and we see all the clergy dressed in blue. It just highlights how the liturgical year moves in a certain way and our understanding of how the arts fit into that. Every time we have the beginning of our academic year I see how much these aspects of these liturgical arts come together in our daily and weekly worship.
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) faculty member Dn. John (Rassem) El Massih was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on Sunday, August 30 by the hand of His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA). The ordination took place during a hierarchical Divine Liturgy served at Ss. Peter & Paul Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Potomac, MD.
May I serve every Divine Liturgy as if it is my first with humility and fear. Hopefully I will never take it for granted,” said Fr. John at the conclusion of his ordination. He has been assigned as an "attached" priest to Ss. Peter & Paul. He will continue to teach Byzantine liturgical music at SVOTS, the Sacred Music Institute, and the Antiochian House of Studies and continue his music composition for AOCANA’s Department of Sacred Music.
Father John was born and raised in Anfeh, Lebanon, where he studied Byzantine Chant under the tutelage of the renowned teacher Fr. Nicholas Malek. After immigrating to the United States in 2001, Fr. John enrolled in Hellenic College in Brookline, MA, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies. He later continued on to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. He served as the Protopsalti of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Boston until his assignment in summer of 2013 as an assistant and chanter for His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip of blessed memory.
The third episode features St. Vladimir’s Seminary assistant professor Very Rev. Nicholas Solak along with Casey Clardy, Ph.D.
“Everything bears meaning: meaning about our life and God and the world and ourselves…and resident within all that is opportunity,” Fr. Nicholas said as the discussion began.
Watch the entire interview with Fr. Nicholas and Dr. Clardy below.
Father Nicholas is a graduate of St. Vladimir’s Seminary; first in 2002 with an M.Div. degree and again in 2008 with a D.Min. Degree. He was ordained to the priesthood in February 2002. Prior to attending St. Vladimir's Seminary, Fr. Nicholas worked for ten years in prisons delivering cognitive-behavioral treatment to criminal offenders with drug and alcohol addiction histories. He also has experience working with the 12-Step Program in treating drug and alcohol addicts. Since 2002, he has been the parish priest at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Stroudsburg, PA, where he lives with his wife and three children. He is also chair of the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Pastoral Life.
Drawing from his experience as a missionary in South Africa and Orthodox mission planter in the United States, St. Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield discusses Orthodox evangelism and offers practical advice for new parishes.
“The first evangelical words [of Scripture] are found in the beginning of Genesis,” Fr. Chad explained during his talk at NLA. “Adam and Eve are hiding, because they now know who they are—their nakedness has been exposed—and it is God, Himself, who calls out, 'Where are you?’
“Ours is a God who comes seeking you and me."
Father Chad’s trip to Norway was arranged by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus Fr. Theodor Svane (’15) and the parish Fr. Theodor serves, Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Mission Parish (in Norwegian, Hellige Jomfru Marias Bebudelse Ortodokse Menighet). The parish hosted Fr. Chad’s visit and worked with the university and Holy Theophany parish for the two talks. During the trip, Fr. Chad also delivered a Nativity Retreat at Fr. Theodor’s parish.
Following the Great Feast of the Nativity, Fr. Sergius was the keynote speaker at the OCF College Conference Midwest, held from December 27 to 30, 2019, at Saint Iakovos Retreat Center, Kansasville, WI. He offered this reflection to OCA.org about his experience:
“As I stood in front of more than ninety college students at the OCF College Conference Midwest at the St. Iakovos Retreat Center in Kansasville WI, and as I began the first of three keynote addresses that I would deliver over the weekend, I couldn't help but think of the OCF college conference that I attended thirty years ago that changed my life forever. I was baptized and chrismated in the Orthodox Church during my college years, and from the very beginning, I thought that maybe I had a vocation to serve the Church. I once asked a senior priest about possibly going to seminary. His first question was, "Do you have a college degree?" I told him that I was close to finishing my B.A. "What is your major?" he asked. "Biology," I said. Then he harrumphed and said, "Well...that doesn't have much to do with theology does it?" That was the end of the discussion, and almost the end of my vocation. A few months later I was at a summer OCF college conference at the Antiochian Village, and Fr. Thomas Hopko was the keynote speaker. Of course I knew who Fr. Tom was—in those days it seemed like everyone did! We listened to his lectures on tape and read his books and knew that he was dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary. Over the course of the retreat, I waited for a moment when he wasn't surrounded by too many people, and with all the courage I could muster, I introduced myself and asked about going to seminary. He cheerfully asked me about where I was from, where I was going to college, and then he asked me the question that I was dreading, "What is your major?" I sheepishly responded, "biology," fearing another bad response. Father Tom thought for a moment, and then he said, "Biology, that is wonderful! You know, St. Isaac the Syrian said that the Christian must love God, love neighbor, and love all of creation—including the lizards. And for someone who lived in the desert, that's really saying something!"
I shared this story with the students at the OCF conference and told them that no matter what you are studying in college, God is calling you to serve, to follow His commandments, and to build up the Body of Christ. The theme of the retreat was from the Prologue of St. John's Gospel, "The Light Shines in the Darkness" and over a remarkable three days of prayer, reflection, and fellowship, we all had an opportunity to allow the light of Christ to burn more brightly in our hearts. The retreat was entirely planned and run by college students, and I'm deeply grateful to all of them for the amazing work they did. The retreat also included a dynamic group of speakers including Fr. Panagiotis Boznos, Steven Christoforou, Paul Karos and Katrina Bitar. The diversity of the speakers gave the college students a concrete image of how Christian discipleship and vocation takes innumerable forms: lay and clergy; male and female; young and old; God calls every one of us to radiate the light of Christ in the darkness.
Coming away from the OCF College Conference Midwest reminded me of just how important it is to nurture and support our college students through the work of OCF. Thinking back on my own life, I was reminded of just how crucial on OCF experience can be to a young person discerning a vocation to serve Christ and His Holy Church. But my three days at the conference also reminded how remarkably life-giving it is for older people, like myself, to serve young people. In helping to kindle and nurture the fire of Christian faith in others, our own Orthodox Christian faith is renewed and strengthened. Glory to Jesus Christ!
On Monday, February 3, 2020, Fr. Sergius spoke to clergy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America who gathered at the Washington Retreat House in Washington, D.C. for a Pre-Lenten retreat. The theme of the retreat was "Kerygma" and Fr. Sergius' talk, "Encountering the Word: Kerygma sprung from scripture, liturgy and hymnography," was the first of three reflections offered by homiletics professors.
In opening remarks His Eminence, Archbishop Elpidophoros noted the importance of preaching in pastoral ministry, and encouraged the participants to preach with clarity and focus. Fr. Sergius reflected on the profound demands of pastoral ministry in terms of the spiritual warfare, and he invited preachers to see the preparation and delivery of homilies as an essential component of the spiritual life.
"Preaching is far more than simply delivering a lecture,” said Fr. Sergius. “When we prepare to preach the Gospel, our first task is to listen for the Word of God, to hear how Christ is speaking to us in the midst of our challenges and temptations. Hearing the Word of God, we can be personally strengthened and renewed in our own Christian faith, and offer to our hearers an opportunity to be renewed and strengthened in Christ."
Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Professor Dr. Peter Bouteneff traveled to Estonia for a unique experience, spending ten days in residency at Arvo Pärt Centre in the village of Laulasmaa from November 21-30, 2019.
“This residency was a period of retreat for me, an immersion into the music and world of Pärt which is so endlessly meaningful to me,” said Bouteneff. “It gave me the opportunity to work in silence, with a view to the great Estonian forest that surrounds the building. And then I could poke my head out of my study room and get into a conversation with one of the Centre’s staff, a visitor, or even with the composer himself.”
Bouteneff serves on the Arvo Pärt Centre’s Board of Artistic Advisors and is the director of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Arvo Pärt Project, which he co-founded together with former faculty member Nicholas Reeves in 2011. Since then, Pärt’s spiritual roots in Orthodox Christianity have inspired the Seminary to produce high-profile concerts, essays and books, and cross-disciplinary panel discussions.
Professor Bouteneff said the timing of his recent stay at the Centre made it even more meaningful for him.
“It was a special joy to be there during the days that Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex was canonized a saint,” he said. “Arvo Pärt and I first met in 1990 at Fr. Sophrony’s monastery. Sophrony and St. Silouan the Athonite have been a profound influence on Pärt’s life and music, and the chapel at the heart of the Pärt Centre was immediately dedicated in the name of St. Sophrony.”
Bouteneff’s residency concluded with a public lecture in the Centre’s auditorium entitled, “Music as translation: The movement from text to reception in Arvo Pärt’s music.” The lecture explored the relationship between the sacred texts that Pärt sets to music, and the profound spiritual power that the music has over its vastly diverse audience.
It has been a little over a year since I took up my position as academic dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, relocating here from my native Romania. But it was only quite recently that my wife, daughters, and I went out as a family to explore the New York area, even just to a restaurant! To be honest, since we arrived here, we have been trying to focus on this community. And we already have a deep feeling of belonging here. It feels strange to leave campus for a Sunday Divine Liturgy, on the occasions I am called away to be somewhere else. Of course, you meet new people and visit new places, and this is always wonderful, but something in your heart always tells you your family is here, at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
It is this strength of community that I wish to bring out more than anything as academic dean. To be, again, honest, one of the things I have found profoundly challenging in this country is the strong emphasis placed on self-promotion—which, at least, seems to be more emphasized in North American culture than what I am used to. I wish above all to promote the Seminary. I would like to promote the institution. It is the people who make up this institution—each and every one—who are worth promoting, celebrating, and developing. That is why my work here so far has been guided by two main areas of focus: faculty and students.
It is the strength of the faculty that has made the Seminary so famous in the Orthodox world over the school’s history. The relatively small faculty has an excellent track record of research awards and publications with leading university presses and journals. I am dedicated to promoting and encouraging all members of our faculty to continue contributions in their respective fields. I want to make sure the Seminary does not fall into the habit of promoting just one or two professors, which can sometimes happen in smaller universities and schools. This is important in order to maintain and grow an excellent academic atmosphere and standard here.
This is also a period of great transition for the faculty. In recent years, some of our well-known professors have retired or are taking up other opportunities elsewhere. This is, of course, a challenge, but there is also great opportunity in this time of change! I believe an important duty of the academic dean is to be able to bring in the best Orthodox scholars when these opportunities arise. And I can tell you there are so many well-trained Orthodox scholars out there. We will use all our connections and look everywhere for resources, here and abroad. We need the best scholars, who can teach well, at St. Vladimir’s. I am one hundred percent devoted and committed to that.
In this period of transition, there is also opportunity to foster and cultivate the pan-Orthodox vision for this Seminary held by great figures such as Fr. Georges Florovsky. Either as faculty or as visiting scholars, I would like to bring great minds here from as many of the great traditions of Orthodoxy as possible—Russia, the Middle East, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and so on. (We have, in fact, already begun bringing in new, excellent scholars here, which will be seen in the coming months.) I want St. Vladimir’s Seminary to be a hub for Orthodox scholars. Relating to this goal, we have been working to grow and put more resources into the Seminary’s Father Georges Florovsky Library. Having the best research library possible is an important piece in attracting the best scholars to St. Vladimir’s.
This focus on faculty and academic climate is meant to also benefit the seminarians, the very reason we exist and the other main focus of my duties. Part of my work here has been devoted to fostering collaboration between faculty and students. A new academic symposium highlighting outstanding student papers and monthly Faculty Seminars, led by both faculty and students, have been a part of this effort. As someone who was trained in a very Germanic style of studying theology, I also examine our curriculum from my particular background to see if improvements can be made. For example, we are exploring possibly more offerings dedicated to ethics/bioethics, and more language offerings in the future such as Latin (which is important for Orthodox scholarship, not just Roman Catholic studies), Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, and others.
It is also my hope that seminarians feel as connected to the school as possible. The seminars, symposiums, and other collaboration efforts are part of this. But I also want them to know me, other than maybe what they have read about in my CV or that I am a Romanian Orthodox person from Eastern Europe. I don’t want them to just see me in chapel and think, “I guess maybe he’s spiritual, or maybe he’s just showing up because of the job!” That’s not enough. I want to open another layer of communication with the students. It’s not only important for the students, but also for the school. Starting this academic year, my family and I have started hosting one student and their family every Sunday at our home. We are focusing on families initially, and then will start hosting the single students. We learn so many things about them and their needs and goals. I hope we have imparted some warmth to them, but they have certainly made an impact on us, and we are so thankful to be able to share this fellowship with them.
All of the seminarians and families at St. Vladimir’s, not just the ones we have hosted, have been such an inspiration to me since I became academic dean, and they help me to better understand my own service and calling. I am always so surprised, in a very good sense, by those who discover Christ at different stages of life and those who have converted to Orthodoxy. Being born and raised in an Orthodox-majority country, you don’t see as often the kinds of sacrifices and stories you see here all the time. It is, perhaps, more normal to contemplate a life in the Church from a young age there. But I have been in awe of those here who have come from a completely different cultural and religious environment but who put their life on hold, changed its direction completely, sold everything, moved to seminary, and put their and their family’s lives in the hands of the Church. It is before these people I can prostrate myself—and I am not just saying that. I always ask myself, am I able to do such a thing? Am I worthy enough to serve these kinds of people?
These are the people I am so thankful for—the faculty, students, and all of the Seminary community—and who make my work so important. I will give thanks to God if I can look back after however many years I am academic dean here and say that I was able to be part of something important for them, for St. Vladimir’s Seminary. This is, after all, my family.
St. Vladimir’s Seminary faculty member and alumnus Fr. Adrian Budica was elevated to the dignity of archpriest Sunday, October 20, 2019, during a historic weekend of celebrations at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY. Father Adrian was elevated by the hands of His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Syro-Arabian Mission by St. Raphael of Brooklyn; the weekend also marked the start of centennial celebrations of the cathedral on State Street.
Joining Metropolitan Joseph were Their Graces, Bishop Basil of Wichita, Bishop Thomas of Charleston, Bishop John of Worcester, Bishop Anthony of Toledo, and Bishop Nicholas of Miami. Their special guest was His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, who represented His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia (the Russian Church provided St. Raphael as a priest in 1895 and consecrated him as a bishop for the founding of the Syro-Arabian Mission, the precursor of the Antiochian Archdiocese). Also present Sunday were St. Vladimir’s Seminary President Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield and Seminary alumni and students.
The Very Rev. Adrian Budica is attached to St. Nicholas Cathedral and is director of Field Education and supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He graduated with a Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree from St. Vladimir’s in 2010 and also holds theology degrees from his native country of Romania, including a degree in Orthodox pastoral theology from Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca.
The St. Vladimir’s Seminary community wishes Archpriest Adrian, Khouria Viktoria, and their children, Elias and Solomia, many years!
